MochiNet
(it means nothing in particular)


My name is Erin Thomas. Currently, I live in Ukiah, California, where I have lived since the middle of 2005.

My main aspiration in life is to find the time and freedom to dedicate my life to the study and the craft of poetry. I've published under my given name, but in recent years I've begun to post and publish under my pseudonym, Zahhar.


Recitals and Cantillations
Years ago, before I developed a problem with my throat, I used to put some of my favorite classical poems to song and sing them at poetry readings and such. It's an activity I sorely miss, and which I hope to return to one day should my throat ever heal or otherwise allow me the gift of singing. Most of these recitals and cantillations were recorded while I was attempting to train my voice between 2001 and 2004. I've since been unable to train my voice further due to the pain and difficulty involved.
 
Writings
I have explored writing throughout my life. Most of it is poetry. Here you'll also find materials I've managed to preserve from my adolescence and early adulthood. Some of this material I plan to revise at some point; some I already have.
 
Journeys Into Poetic Forms
This is a chapbook collection I began putting together mid 2002. Presently, the collection consists of three series. Series I is dedicated to the ghazal, Series II to free verse, and Series III to the villanelle and its variations. Each chapbook can be viewed as PDF, which may be perused online using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which most everyone has. There has been a long lull in my activity with these chapbooks because of severe time and energy constraints. But I continue writing, and I hope to one day have enough material for more chapbooks and a forth series.
 
Color Themes for XP
I've never been able to stand the Microsoft default color schemes. And with XP, Microsoft has pompously decided that every user of their operating environment throughout the world will enjoy using an interface that seems to be based on cheap children's toys. The XP "look" is a disgusting, wretched eyesore. Here I provide many low contrast color themes using the windows classic "look" that may or may not relieve the headache you've developed from looking at any of the themes provided by Microsoft's complete lack of inventiveness.
 
My Favorite Poetry Author
Robert Service is my favorite poet ever. His poetry was a deep inspiration to me in my troubled youth. Especially his poem, The Spell of the Yukon, which was the first of his poems I ever came across. His seems to be the message of daily acceptance of what is, keeping your chin up and never quitting even though "God knows sometimes it seems even heaven itself is against you", the joys of life's little pleasures, like the sunshine, and the green grass on a summer day, or a pleasant conversation over some ale in a friendly pub. My favorite of his works are his remarkable ballads (rhyming poems that tell good stories) such as The Ballad of the Northern Lights, Clancy of the Mounted Police and The Ballad of the Black Fox Skin, just to name a splendid few. I have recently put together a searchable archive of Service's poetry. People like it so much that there is even a link to it from Art Ude's "The Original Home Page of Robert W. Service", which is considered to be the official website for information about the poet himself, his life, and his poetry.
© 1998 - 2001 EAT